Brian Elliott was signed as a free agent this summer to be the backup goalie for the St. Louis Blues. He has turned out to be much more. Elliot made 25 saves to lead the Blues to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Rangers Thursday night. The win was Elliott's ninth in his last 10 games and 13th in 15 tries over all. He lowered his NHL-leading goals-against average to 1.43 and increased his league-best save percentage to .950. After his team gave Elliott a quick two-goal lead, he made it stand up. “We've been playing well with leads,” Elliott said. “We took the lead, put it in our back pocket and played the rest of the game.” The Blues have 15 of a possible 16 points against Eastern Conference foes this season. Pronger out: The Philadelphia Flyers' captain, Chris Pronger, will miss the rest of the regular season and playoffs because of severe post-concussion syndrome. Pronger, a 37-year-old defenseman, has been sidelined since Nov. 19. He visited Dr. Joseph Maroon and Dr. Micky Collins Wednesday in Pittsburgh after complaining about a persistent headache and sluggish feeling. Stars 3, Islanders 2: Jamie Benn scored the go-ahead goal 4 minutes 33 seconds into the third period and also had an assist for visiting Dallas. Richard Bachman made 25 saves to improve to 3-0 and help the Stars run their winning streak to three games. Flyers 4, Canadiens 3: Andrei Meszaros scored 8:08 into the third, Mathieu Carle had three assists and visiting Philadelphia extended its winning streak to seven. Predators 4, Red Wings 3: Shea Weber scored two goals late in the third period for host Nashville, which won its fourth straight. In other games Washington beat Winnipeg 1-0; host Carolina beat Vancouver 4-3; visiting Los Angeles ended a five-game skid by beating Columbus 2-1; Tampa Bay won at home 5-4 over Calgary; Shane Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the third period, and host Phoenix ended a three-game losing streak, beating Edmonton, 4-2.
